Peace Doesn't Just Happen

Psalm 34:11-14 “Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it."

Seek peace. Pursue it. It doesn’t just happen. Peace is not the normal state of things. I think we tend to think that it is. We’re always consumed with these things that come up in life and disturb our peace. We can’t wait for this to be over with, or until that is done with, or until this is finished…so things can go back to ‘normal’, so we can get some rest, so we can have peace. We just want to have peace and we can’t right now because this person thinks this, this person is doing this, this person said this or wont do this or whatever it may be. If they would just do this then we would be at peace with things. Or maybe if we could just understand this situation we would have peace.

The list is unending.

Peace doesn’t just happen. Even for the Christian who has the sovereign Prince of Peace as their King. We have to intentionally seek peace. We have to pursue it. We have to continually fight against the things that threaten peace. Whether that is internally in our own thoughts and things we need to deal with concerning ourselves, or externally- a situation we need to stay away from, a person we need to distance ourselves from. Too many times I think as Christians we throw a Sunday school answer at things- Christ is sovereign, have peace. This is true, but all of your problems and negative emotions and bad habits don’t just go away the second you become a Christian. You have to deal with those things, sort through those things, and fight against those things.

What is disturbing your peace today? It’s not just going to go away. In fact, it might not go away at all. It might be that your attitude and the way you handle yourself around this thing is what needs to change. But whatever the case, you have to identify these things and you have to take action.

Peace isn’t a resting state. Peace is an intentional choice. And just because you are a follower of Christ doesn’t mean you get to tap into this immediate peace. There are times of peace, yes. There are times of just simply resting in Christ in the midst of very un-peaceful times, yes. But more times than not, peace is something you are going to have to fight for, something you are going to have to choose.

I choose to be at peace today. I choose to reject any thoughts that are not peaceful, that will stir up negative emotions. I choose to distance myself from situations in which I know I will end up getting caught up in something not peaceful. I choose to acknowledge that ultimately all peace belongs to Christ and by submitting to His authority and asking for His help, as I seek peace, He will pour His peace into my life and into my mind.

What is stopping you from having peace today? What are you going to do to be intentional about seeking peace?